A broad range of cleat devices have been developed for holding ropes, cables and wires and the like hereafter referred to as rope. The purpose of these cleat devices is to permit the holding of a rope between two points in a secure manner as to overcome tensional resistance.
One such cleat device includes a cleat having a cam with a passageway adapted to receive a rope. The cleats function by allowing a rope to be freely drawn through a passageway in one direction and conversely pinching the rope if drawn in the opposite direction.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,548,873 issued on Aug. 27, 1996 to Macias and relates to an improved anti-locking cleat for rope, cable, and the like including a housing, a rotatable generally spherically-shaped engaging member, a biasing means and a positioning means. The housing includes an elongated base, a first passageway generally circular in cross-section and extending traverse to the length of the base. A chamber is formed in the base and is disposed adjacent one side of the first passageway. A length of rope is drawn through the first passageway in either a first or oppositely directed second direction. The rotatable engaging member is pivotally mounted within the chamber and is positionable at either a first or a second position. The member is biased into the first position by the biasing means and is manually positionable, via the positioning means, into the second position. When the member is in the first position it partially blocks the passageway and engagingly contacts the rope such that the rope may be freely drawn through the passageway in the first direction but not in the second direction. When the member is in the second position it does not block the passageway and does not engagingly contact the rope, such that the rope may be freely pulled through the passageway in either the first or the second directions. The device disclosed is complicated in design and whose function is based on the rotational motion of a cam device with the assistance of a spring.
Lindquist is the owner of U.S. Pat. No. 4,278,042 which issued on Jul. 14, 1981. This patent relates to a cam cleat designed to secure sheets, halyards, lines etc. introduced into it on boats. The can cleat includes two parts moving respectively, towards and away from each other, the faces of these parts which face each other being serrated, and these parts being so designed that they adopt a fixed position and a free position and are so pivoted that when they rotate in the same direction they either move towards each other or away from other. These parts are spring-loaded in such a way that the first of the parts strives to adopt the free position and the other of these parts strive to adopt the fixed position. Further, the first of these parts can be locked in the fixed position by an eccentric control device. The first part is pivoted about a point in such a way that when rotated from the fixed position to the free position its serrations tend to detension a line in the cam cleat. The device disclosed is comprised of two cam members and a cam control device release lever and requires the assistance of multiple torsion springs and pressure springs to function.
Brown is the owner of U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,111 which issued on Jul. 28, 1992. This patent relates to a device including a base plate having a rope receiving surface portion along and against which the rope travels, a cam pivotally connected to the base plate, and a plurality of protrusions extending generally radially outwardly from the surface of the cam. The device disclosed is complicated in design and whose function is based on the rotational motion of a cam device about a pivot point.
McCloud is the owner of U.S. Pat. No. 4,217,847 which issued on Aug. 19, 1980. This patent relates to a self-release cam cleat and further relates to a rope holding device including an improved cam cleat useful on a sailboat for maintaining sail ropes taut. The improved cam cleat contains two cam-type jaws to grip the rope, one of which has a serrated or tooth-like surface for gripping, while the other has a smooth-gripping surface which permits easy rotation of the smooth cam member to the release position. The smooth cam member has an arcuate face with a radius of curvature for the gripping surface substantially greater than the smooth face of the release surface adjacent it. Consequently, when the smooth surface release cam is pivoted so that the retained rope is slipped from the smooth gripping surface to the smooth releasing surface, the rope is automatically released without though need for the operator to exert a force on the rope to pull it away from the cam cleat as is usually done. This cam design lacks a covering of housing, such that the rope may be accidentally pulled from the passageway thereby disengaging the cleat mechanism and releasing the rope.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,505,384 B1 issued to Renton et al on Jan. 14, 2003. This patent relates to an apparatus for gripping a flexible elongated member including a housing having a base, a lever pivotally connected to the housing, and a gripping component having a gripping member. The lever is pivotally connected to the housing, and the gripping component is mounted so as to be movable relative to the housing. The gripping component, housing, and lever are arranged such that manipulation of the elongated member so as to contact the lever will cause the lever and gripping component to move relative to each other, thereby gripping or releasing the elongated member. The device disclosed is complicated in design and whose function is based on the rotational motion of a cam device about a pivot point.
Thus there is a need for a cleat device that minimizes the number of internal moving parts while maintaining the inherent protection of a housing device.